


In Sickness

by VyeLoyomBrightwarrior



Category: Stargate Universe
Genre: Alien Illness, Hurt/Comfort, Pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-25 21:59:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3826510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VyeLoyomBrightwarrior/pseuds/VyeLoyomBrightwarrior
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rush gets a very contagious and painful but non deadly illness on an alien planet. He is placed in quarantine. Alone. Young decides to change that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Sickness

He’s alone. He’s sick and dying and he’s going to die alone in quarantine. TJ says it’s not deadly, just extremely painful. He doesn’t believe her. He’s shivering, unable to get warm not matter how many blankets they manage to pass through the containment field. His headache is at an insane level even for him but it’s nothing when compared to the pain his whole body is in. The pain that is only aggravated by his shivering. He just wants to curl up and die already. It’s like someone designed this specifically to torture someone as much as possible.

“Rush,” someone greets and he looks up. Hallucinations too? This just isn’t fair. “Rush you’re okay,” hallucination Young tells him, coming forward and enveloping him in a hug. A warm hug. He pulls away, staring in shock at the man before him.

“You’ll get sick,” he points out. Young just shrugs and pulls him close again, chasing out the chill in a way the blankets couldn’t.

“You’re sick,” Young states as if that’s some sort of argument. It’s not, not at all and Young is a moron if he thinks it is.

“Yes I’m sick but that’s no reason for you to come in here and needlessly get yourself sick while you should be running the ship,” he argues, trying to move back so Young can see his glare. Only Young just holds him tighter and it hurts too much to fight it so he relaxes again, resigned to being held.

“Scott can handle it,” Young assures him.

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re here,” he points out. “There was absolutely no need.”

“Damn it Rush,” Young says, startling him. “Do you even know what you looked like?” Great. Young must have used the camera in the prison hold (the only room they could think of to use as quarantine) to keep an eye on him.

“No colonel,” he snaps back, getting irritated. “Do you see a mirror in here?” Young ignores him and just keeps going with his thought.

“You looked like an abused abandoned puppy dog.” Rush scowls and shifts, trying futility to pull back in protest.

“I do not…”

“Oh yes you do Rush, ask anyone.”

“Even assuming you’re right, which you most certainly are not, that isn’t a good enough reason to come in here. There is a reason I’m in quarantine and there is no reason two people should have to suffer through this when only one was infected in the first place.”

“I’m through abandoning you Rush,” Young says. “I told you I’d stand by you and that includes when you get a non-deadly extremely painful contagious alien illness.” Rush snorts.

“It’s not like you promised me in sickness and in health colonel,” he points out. Young just hums in acknowledgement, sounding a bit amused. Rush decides to let the point rest, opting to snuggle into Young a bit more instead.

“Though you did promise me no lies,” Young reminded him. “No more secrets. So, tell me, you’re happy I came aren’t you?”

“I meant no secrets about the ship.”

“That’s not what you said.”

“I exercise the right to remain silent.”

“You’re not even American.”

“I am actually. I became a United States citizen when I married Gloria. And besides, that fact that you don’t think Scotland has a similar law is actually quite depressing and makes me think less of you.”

“Fine, but we aren’t on Earth.”

“If there is a point there I didn’t catch it.”

“We pretty much have our own hierarchy now and we haven’t exactly established rules, so at the moment you don’t have the right to remain silent.”

“I thought you wanted to follow all the rules from Earth.”

“I changed my mind.”

“You’re a dictator.”

“Great, now that that’s settled tell me if you’re happy that I came or not.”

“This conversation alone has me wishing you hadn’t come.”

“You don’t mean that,” Young calls him out. He frowns as he snuggles into Young’s chest a bit more. He actually doesn’t mean it. Young is right. But he is mad that Young came. He is happy but mad.

“The answer isn’t straightforward,” he tells the colonel.

“I’ll try to keep up,” Young teases a bit, shifting Rush in his arms. Rush moves a bit so he can see Young’s face. It looks like the sickness has already started affecting the man.

“Alright, fine,” he says. He’s probably only agreeing because the sickness and pain has made it so he isn’t thinking straight and he’ll most likely regret saying all this once this is all over. Somehow even that doesn’t stop him. “I didn’t want to be alone. So yes, I’m happy. But I’m also damn mad because you didn’t have to go through this! You shouldn’t be in pain.” Young holds his breath for a second, he can feel it. It seems the man is shocked. But then the pain intensifies and suddenly all Rush can do is scream in agony, trembling helplessly in the colonel’s arms.

* * *

 

Finally, finally it’s over and the sudden change from intense pain to almost no pain at all leaves Rush’s head spinning. He sighs in relief as Young tips him a bit so he can look into his face. Young looks awful actually and Rush thinks the other man might be close to reaching the uncontrollable seizer point of this sickness. Which isn’t very good because Rush’s limbs feel like jello and he’s certain that if Young goes into the excruciating pain he just lived through, he won’t be much help.

“Are you alright?” Young questions and he nods, pulling away. Young makes a noise of protest.

“I’m fine,” he says, slipping out of the man’s grasp completely and moving to a sitting position before pulling Young close the way Young did for him, aching muscles be damned. “And you will be too.” He hates the way his voice is gravely, from the screaming no doubt, but Young doesn’t seem to notice. He just hums happily in acknowledgement, snuggling into Rush’s chest. Rush knows how it feels. The human body heat is the only thing that seems to chase away the cold. Still… “If I’m a puppy dog you are definitely a kitty cat.”

“Are you still mad?” Young asks him then.

“I just joked about you being a cat,” Rush points out. Young just shifts uneasily in response and Rush sighs, realizing that he’s going to have to spell this out. “No I’m not mad. But you’re a damn fool for doing this.”

“That makes two of us,” Young comments. Rush is about to respond when suddenly Young starts thrashing and screaming. Rush almost lets go from a combination of shock and tired muscles but he holds on, gripping Young to him tightly to keep the man from hurting himself. He murmurs soft reassurances instinctively, even though he knows Young can’t hear him. And that is all he can do.

Finally after what feels like years but can’t have been more than a couple of hours if that, the man in his arms goes limp. He sighs, relaxing his grip in relief, muscles protesting his recent actions. He leans back into the wall, breathing deeply.

“You and I are totally taking the week off,” Young moans, his voice hoarse as well now. Normally Rush would protest but right now he’s just to tired. “TJ should start the decontamination process in a minute. There’s a program in the ship for that, apparently.” Rush nods tiredly. He remembers seeing that program.

“It takes a couple hours,” Rush informs Young as the man shifts out of his grasp, moving to sit next to him.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Young asks.

“I don’t think I could be thinking anything else,” Rush states. By the time the room is detoxed and everyone can come in they find Rush and Young both leaning back against the wall and both fast asleep.


End file.
